Freddie Mac Senior Vice President Paul Mullings confronted negative perceptions on refinancing in a recent blog post, stating that refinancing by Freddie and other government agencies has saved homeowners not millions, but billions of dollars. “One thing I observed

The Illinois Certified Commercial Investment Member (CCIM) Chapter is looking for nominations for its Black Diamond Awards, to be presented on November 18th at the Black Diamond Awards dinner, held at Spaggia Italian

Despite daily doses of apocalyptic news and forecasts, two prominent surveys on housing cut through the fog and show that even in a down market, housing remains a mainstay of the American Dream. The two surveys, one by Fannie

After an off week, mortgage applications bounced back to life the third week of September, increasing 9.3 percent on the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) weekly study of the application market. Mike Fratantoni, the MBA’s vice president of research and

Prudential Rubloff principal partners Michael Pierson and Chris Eigel have just announced the launch of the firm’s newest innovation: the Prudential Rubloff Community Video Network (CVN). Through new networks, consumers now have the ability to get a glimpse at

Construction spending rose 1.4 percent in August, a strong recovery after a disappointing 1.4 percent decline in July. According to data from the U.S. Commerce Department, building in August reached a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $799.1 billion, a

Serious delinquencies for single family homes, which are loans that are either in foreclosure or three month’s late on payments, declined for both Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae in August. For Fannie, the delinquency rate dropped to 4.03 percent,

New data from Standard & Poor’s last week showed that Chicago home values increased for the third consecutive month in July, rising 1.9 percent from June. Part of Standard & Poor’s hugely influential Case-Shiller Home Price Index, Chicago was

Record-low mortgage rates and the most affordable housing market in 20 years are jump-starting investments in the mortgage markets, though financing remains tricky. Last week, the 30-year FRM fell to 4.01 percent, the lowest rate in the history of

An earlier post by UrbanTurf revealed that former Governor Rod Blagojevich’s Ravenswood Manor is on the market and listed at $1.07

During the month of September, rental listings on the Chicago MLS jumped almost 20 percent, according to data compiled by Yo Chicago. “A seasonal increase in available units and slower absorption are to be expected at this time of

The U.S. housing market has finally bottomed out, and after two years of flat growth, will begin a slow, steady recovery, according to former RealtyTrac vice president Rick Sharga. Sharga, who is now an executive vice president with Carrington

Thirty-five-year real estate veteran Larry Giddings is set to manage the Lincoln Park office of @properties as its new vice president of brokerage

The Lake Forest estate owned by the late Andrew W. Armour III and Sara Wood Armour sold last week for a whopping $7.2 million, making it the highest paid price for a local single-family property this

Stories abound on the immense international investments in the U.S. housing market, and a new study from Credit Sesame seems to have clarified why. According to an elegant infographic that Credit Sesame compiled using price data from Zillow, the

First, it was the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP). Now, it’s the Emergency Homeowner’s Loan Program (EHLP). Both are government programs for housing, and both are due to fall short of their initial goals. Underperformance seems to be the